Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Biological Diversity in Eastern Old Growth

  • Chapter
Book cover Ecology and Recovery of Eastern Old-Growth Forests

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to update the current understanding of the unique role of eastern old-growth forests in supporting biological diversity, a topic that was first addressed for vertebrates and understory herbs by various contributors to Davis (1996). Therefore, this treatment will focus on diversity of invertebrates, bryophytes, lichens, fungi, vascular plants, and their respective interactions. The biological significance of eastern old-growth forests is linked, in large part, to heterogeneous habitats provided by dead trees (snags), rotting logs, and old live trees. Therefore, it is necessary to first describe eastern old-growth forest structure and contrast it with that of variously disturbed and managed forests in order to establish context for the ecological significance of the structure-diversity relationships.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abrams, M. D., and D. A. Orwig. 1996. “A 300-year history of disturbance and canopy recruitment for co-occurring white pine and hemlock on the Allegheny Plateau, USA.” Journal of Ecology 84: 353–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arthur, M. S., L. M. Tritton, and T. J. Fahey. 1992. “Dead bole mass and nutrients remaining 23 years after clear-felling a northern hardwood forest.” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 23: 1298–1305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batista, W. B., and W. J. Platt. 1997. “An old-growth definition for southern mixed hardwood forests.” General Technical Report SRS-9. Asheville, NC: USDA Forest Service.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Berg, A., B. Ehnstrom, L. Gustafsson, T. Hallingback, M. Jonsell, and J. Weslien. 1994. “Threatened plant, animal, and fungus species in Swedish forests: distribution and habitat associations.” Conservation Biology 8: 718–731

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolton, N. W., and A. W. D’Amato. 2011. “Regeneration responses to gap size and coarse woody debris within natural disturbance-based silvicultural systems in northeastern Minnesota, USA.” Forest Ecology and Management 262: 1215–1222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brazee, N. J., D. L. Lindner, A. W. D’Amato, S. Fraver, J. A. Forrester, and D. J. Mladenoff.2014. “Disturbance and diversity of wood-inhabiting fungi: effects of canopy gaps and downed woody debris.” Biodiversity and Conservation 23: 2155–2172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caspersen, J. P., and M. Saprunoff. 2005. “Seedling recruitment in a northern temperate forest: the relative importance of supply and establishment limitation.” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 35: 978–989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chandler, D. S. 1991. “Comparison of some slime-mold and fungus-feeding beetles (Coleoptera: Eucinetoidea, Cucujoidea) in an old-growth and 40-year-old forest in New Hampshire.” Coleopterists Bulletin 45: 239–256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chokkalingam, U., and A. White. 2001. “Structural and spatial patterns of trees in old-growth northern hardwood and mixed forests of northern Maine.” Plant Ecology 156:1311–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole, H. A., S. G. Newmaster, F. W. Bell, D. Pitt, and A. Stinson. 2008. “Influence of microhabitat on bryophyte diversity in Ontario mixedwood boreal forest.” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 38: 1867–1876.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper-Ellis, S. 1998. “Bryophytes in old-growth forests of western Massachusetts.” Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 125: 117–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crow, T. R., D. S. Buckley, E. A. Nauertz, and J. C. Zasada. 2002. “Effects of management on the composition and structure of northern hardwood forests in Upper Michigan.” Forest Science 48: 129–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Amato, A. W., D. A. Orwig, and D. R. Foster. 2008. “The influence of successional processes and disturbance on the structure of Tsuga canadensis forests.” Ecological Applications 18: 1182–1199.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • D’Amato, A. W., D. A. Orwig, and D. R. Foster. 2009. “Understory vegetation in old-growth and second-growth Tsuga canadensis forests in western Massachusetts.” Forest Ecology and Management 257: 1043–1052.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Amato, A. W., D. A. Orwig, D. R. Foster, A. B. Plotkin, P. K. Schoonmaker, and M. R.Wagner. 2017. “Long-term structural and biomass dynamics of virgin Tsuga canadensisPinus strobus forests after hurricane disturbance.” Ecology 98: 721–733.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. B., ed. 1996. Eastern Old-Growth Forests: Prospects for Discovery and Recovery. Washington, DC: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodds, K. J., and P. J. Smallidge. 1999. “Composition, vegetation and structural characteristics of a presettlement forest in western Maryland.” Castanea 64: 337–345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flinn, K. M. 2007. “Microsite-limited recruitment controls fern colonization of post-agricultural forests.” Ecology 88: 3103–3114.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Forrester, J. A., and J. R. Runkle. 2000. “Mortality and replacement patterns of an old-growth Acer-Fagus woods in the Holden Arboretum, northeastern Ohio.” The American Midland Naturalist 144: 227–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraver, S., and A. S. White. 2007. “Disturbance dynamics of old-growth Picea rubens forests of northern Maine.” Journal of Vegetation Science 16: 597–610.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frego, K. A. 2007. “Bryophytes as potential indicators of forest integrity.” Forest Ecology andManagement 242: 65–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garmendia-Zapata, M. A. 2015. “Influence of environmental variation on epiphytic bryophyte assemblages on sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) in northern and central New York.” Master’s thesis. Syracuse, NY: State University of New York–College of Environmental Science and Forestry

    Google Scholar 

  • Goebel, P. C., D. M. Hix, and A. M. Olivero. 1999. “Seasonal ground-flora patterns and site factor relationships of second-growth and old-growth south-facing ecosystems, southern Ohio.” Natural Areas Journal 19: 12–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gower, S. T., R. E. McMurtrie, and D. Murty. 1996. “Aboveground net primary production decline with stand age: potential causes.” Trends in Ecology and Evolution 11:378–382.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greenidge, K. N. H. 1987. “Compositional-structural relations in old-growth forests, CapeBreton Island.” Rhodora 89: 279–297.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hale, C. M., J. Pastor, and K. A. Rusterholz. 1999. “Comparison of structural and compositional characteristics in old-growth and mature, managed hardwood forests of Minnesota, U.S.A.” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 29: 1471–1489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardt, R. A. 1993. “Characterization of old-growth forests in the southern Appalachian region of the United States and implications for their management.” PhD diss. Athens, GA: University of Georgia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardt, R. A., and W. T. Swank. 1997. “A comparison of structural and compositional characteristics of southern Appalachian young second-growth, maturing second-growth and old-growth stands.” Natural Areas Journal 17: 42–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harmon, M. E., J. F. Franklin, F. J. Swanson, P. Sollins, S. V. Gregory, J. D. Lattin, N. H.Anderson, et al. 1986. “Ecology of coarse woody debris in temperate ecosystems.” Advances in Ecological Research 15: 133–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hura, C. E., and T. R. Crow. 2004. “Woody debris as a component of ecological diversity in thinned and unthinned northern hardwood forests.” Natural Areas Journal 24: 57–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, M. A. 2007. “Vegetation communities of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.” Southeastern Naturalist 6: 35–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kappes, H., W. Topp, P. Zach, and J. Kulfan. 2006. “Coarse woody debris, soil properties and snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in European primeval forests of different environmental conditions.” European Journal of Soil Biology 42: 131–146.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keeton, W. S., A. A. Whitman, G. G. McGee, and C. L. Goodale. 2011. “Late-successional biomass development in northern hardwood-conifer forests of the northeastern United States.” Forest Science 57: 489–505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kehler, D., S. Bondrup-Nielsen, and C. Corkum. 2004. “Beetle diversity associated with forest structure including deadwood in softwood and hardwood stands in Nova Scotia.” Proceedings of the Nova Scotia Institute of Science 42: 227–239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kincaid, J. A. 2007. “Compositional and environmental characteristics of Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr. forests in the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA.” Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 134: 479–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindner, D. L., H. H. Burdsall, Jr., and G. R. Stanosz. 2006. “Species diversity of Polyporoid and Corticioid fungi in northern hardwood forests with differing management histories.” Mycologia 98: 195–217.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lobell, S., T. Snall, and H. Rydin. 2006. “Species richness patterns and metapopulation processes – evidence from epiphyte communities in boreo-nemoral forests.” Ecography 29:161–182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martikainen, P., J. Siitonen, P. Punttila, L. Kaila, and J. Rauh. 2000. “Species richness of Coleoptera in mature managed and old-growth boreal forests in southern Finland.” Biological Conservation 94: 199–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, W. H. 1975. “The Lilley Cornett Woods: a stable mixed mesophytic forest in Kentucky.” Botanical Gazette 136: 171–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marx, L., and M. B. Walters. 2006. “Effects of nitrogen supply and wood species on Tsuga canadensis and Betula alleghaniensis seedling growth on decaying wood.” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 36: 2873–2884.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marx, L., and M. B. Walters. 2008. “Survival of tree seedlings on different species of decaying wood maintains tree distribution in Michigan hemlock-hardwood forests.” Journal of Ecology 96: 505–513.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, B. C. 2003. “The herbaceous layer of eastern old-growth deciduous forests.” In The Herbaceous Layer in Forests of Eastern North America, edited by F. S. Gilliam, and M. R. Roberts, 163–176. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • McGee, G. G. 1998. “Structural characteristics of Adirondack northern hardwood forests: implications for ecosystem management.” PhD diss. Syracuse, N.Y: State University of New York–College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGee, G. G. 2000. “The contribution of beech bark disease-induced mortality to coarse woody debris loads in northern hardwood stands of Adirondack Park, New York, U.S.A.” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 30: 1453–1462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGee, G. G. 2001. “Stand-level effects on the role of decaying logs as vascular plant habitat in Adirondack northern hardwood forests.” Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 128:370–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGee, G. G., M. Cardon, and D. Kiernan. 2018. “Variation in sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marshall) bark and stemflow characteristics: implications for epiphytic bryophyte communities.” Northeastern Naturalist. In Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGee, G. G., D. J. Leopold, and R. D. Nyland. 1999. “Structural characteristics of old-growth, maturing and partially cut northern hardwood forests.” Ecological Applications 9: 1316–1329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGee, G. G., and R. W. Kimmerer. 2002. “Forest age and management effects on epiphytic bryophyte communities in Adirondack northern hardwood forests, New York, USA.” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 32: 1562–1576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMinn, J. W., and R. A. Hardt. 1996. “Accumulations of coarse woody debris in southern forests.” In Biodiversity and Coarse Woody Debris in Southern Forests, edited by J. W. McMinn, and D. A. Crossley, Jr., 1–9. General Technical Report SE-94. Southeast Forest Research Station, USDA Forest Service

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • McMullin, R. T., P. N. Duinker, R. P. Cameron, D. H. S. Richardson, and I. M. Brodo. 2008. “Lichens of coniferous old-growth forests of southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada: diversity and present status.” The Bryologist 111: 620–637.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metzger, F., and J. Schultz. 1984. “Understory response to 50 years of management of a northern hardwood forest in Upper Michigan.” American Midland Naturalist 112: 209–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, K. M., R. G. Wagner, and S. A. Woods. 2008. “Arboreal arthropod associations with epiphytes following gap harvesting in the Acadian forest of Maine.” The Bryologist 111:424–434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mroz, G. D., M. R. Gale, M. F. Jurgensen, D. J. Frederick, and A. Clark III. 1985. “Composition, structure, and above-ground biomass of two old-growth northern hardwood stands in Upper Michigan.” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 15: 78–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muller, R. N., and Y. Liu. 1991. “Coarse woody debris in an old-growth deciduous forest on the Cumberland Plateau, southeastern Kentucky.” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 21: 1567–1572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nascimbene, J., G. Thor, and P. L. Nimis. 2013. “Effects of forest management on epiphytic lichens in temperate deciduous forests of Europe – a review.” Forest Ecology and Management 298: 27–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norden, B., M. Ryberg, F. Gotmark, and B. Olausson. 2004. “Relative importance of coarse and fine woody debris for the diversity of wood-inhabiting fungi in temperate broadleaf forests.” Biological Conservation 117: 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Odor, P., J. Heilmann-Clausen, M. Christensen, E. Aude, K. W. van Dort, A. Piltaver, I. Siller, et al. 2006. “Diversity of dead wood inhabiting fungi and bryophytes in semi-natural beech forests in Europe.” Biological Conservation 131: 58–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, M. W. 1987. “Diameter distributions and the establishment of tree seedlings in the Henry M. Wright Preserve, Macon County, North Carolina.” Castanea 52: 87–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Pederson, N. 2010. “External characteristics of old trees in eastern deciduous forest.” NaturalAreas Journal 30: 396–407.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pettersson, R. B., J. P. Ball, K-E. Renhorn, P-A. Esseen, and K. Sjoberg. 1995. “Invertebrate communities in boreal forest canopies as influenced by forestry and lichens with implications for passerine birds.” Biological Conservation 74: 57–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, D. H. S., and R. P. Cameron. 2004. “Cyanolichens: their response to pollution and possible management strategies for their conservation in northeastern North America.” Northeastern Naturalist 11: 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Root, H. T., G. G. McGee, and R. A. Norton. 2007a. “Arboreal mite communities on epiphytic lichens of the Adirondack Mountains of New York.” Northeastern Naturalist 14: 425–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Root, H. T., G. G. McGee, and R. D. Nyland. 2007b. “Effects of two silvicultural regimes with large tree retention on epiphytic macrolichen communities in Adirondack northern hardwoods, New York, USA.” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 37: 1854–1866.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roovers, L. M., and S. R. Shifley. 1997. “Composition and dynamics of Spitler Woods, an old-growth remnant forest in Illinois (USA).” Natural Areas Journal 17: 219–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubino, D. L., and B. C. McCarthy. 2003. “Composition and ecology of macrofungal and myxomycete communities on oak woody debris in a mixed-oak forest of Ohio.” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 33: 2151–2163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rydin H., M. Diekmann, and T. Hallingback. 1997. “Biological characteristics, habitat associations, and distribution of macrofungi in Sweden.” Conservation Biology 11: 628–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheller, R. M., and D. J. Mladenoff. 2002. “Understory species patterns and diversity in old-growth and managed northern hardwood forests.” Ecological Applications 12: 1321–1343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schowalter, T. D. 1995. “Canopy arthropod communities in relation to forest age and alterna-tive harvest practices in western Oregon.” Forest Ecology and Management 78: 115–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Selva, S. B. 1994. “Lichen diversity and stand continuity in northern hardwoods and spruce-fir forest of northern New England and western New Brunswick.” Bryologist 97: 424–429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • . Shields, J. M., C. R. Webster, and L. M. Nagel. 2007. “Factors influence tree species diversity and Betula alleghaniensis establishment in silvicultural openings.” Forestry 80: 293–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spribille, T., G. Thor, F. L. Bunnell, T. Goward, and C. R. Bjork. 2008. “Lichens on dead wood: species-substrate relationships in the epiphytic lichen floras of the Pacific North-west and Fennoscandia.” Ecography 31: 741–750.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stubbs, C. S. 1989. “Patterns of distribution and abundance of corticolous lichens and their invertebrate associates on Quercus rubra in Maine.” The Bryologist 92: 453–460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stokland, J. N., and K-H. Larsson. 2011. “Legacies from natural forest dynamics: different effects of forest management on wood-inhabiting fungi in pine and spruce forests.” Forest Ecology and Management 261: 1707–1721.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tews, J., U. Brose, V. Grimm, K. Tielborger, M. C. Wichmann, M. Schwager, and F. Jeltsch.2004. “Animal species diversity driven by habitat heterogeneity/diversity: the importance of keystone structures.” Journal of Biogeography 31: 79–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Topp, W., H. Kappes, J. Kulfan, and P. Zach. 2006. “Distribution pattern of woodlice (Isopoda) and millipedes (Diplopoda) in four primeval forests of the western Carpathians (central Slovakia).” Soil Biology and Biogeochemistry 38: 43–50.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tyrrell, L. E., G. J. Nowacki, T. R. Crow, D. S. Buckley, E. A. Nauertz, J. N. Niese, J. L. Rollinger, and J. C. Zasada. 1998. “Information about old growth for selected forest type groups in the eastern United States.” General Technical Report NC-197. North-Central Forest Research Station. USDA Forest Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ulyshen, M. D. 2011. “Arthropod vertical stratification in temperate deciduous forests: implications for conservation-oriented management.” Forest Ecology and Management 261:1471–1489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vanderwel, M. C., H. C. Thorpe, J. L. Shuter, J. P. Caspersen, and S. C. Thomas. 2008. “Contrasting downed woody debris dynamics in managed and unmanaged northern hardwood stands.” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 38: 2850–2861.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiklund, K., and H. Rydin. 2004. “Colony expansion of Neckera pennata: modelled growth rate and effect of microhabitat, competition, and precipitation.” Bryologist 107: 293–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wyatt, J. L., and M. R. Silman. 2010. “Centuries-old logging legacy on spatial and temporal patterns in understory herb communities.” Forest Ecology and Management 260: 116–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeran, R. M., R. S. Anderson, and T. A. Wheeler. 2007. “Effects of small-scale forest management on fungivorous Coleoptera in old-growth forest fragments in southeasternOntario, Canada.” Canadian Entomologist 139: 118–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ziegler, S. S. 2000. “A comparison of structural characteristics between old-growth and postfiresecond-growth hemlock-hardwood forests in Adirondack Park, New York, U.S.A.” Global Ecology & Biogeography 9: 373–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Gregory G. McGee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southern Maine, Portland, OR, USA

    Andrew M. Barton

  2. The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA

    William S. Keeton

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Andrew M. Barton and William S. Keeton

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

McGee, G.G. (2018). Biological Diversity in Eastern Old Growth. In: Barton, A.M., Keeton, W.S. (eds) Ecology and Recovery of Eastern Old-Growth Forests. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-891-6_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation